2.
‘The list of things you
could do with
nanotechnology reads like
much of the Christmas
Wish List of our
civilization’
Richard Smalley, 1995.

3.
Tamar Chachibaia
Presented at
EthicSchool summerschool on Ethics on Nanotechnology,
UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE, NETHERLANDS
24-29 August, 2008
Health Monitoring and Assessment of
Nondestructive Use of Nanoparticle Gold
Compounds

4.
Technology Assessment
• The aim of Technology Assessment is to measure
benefit to risk ratio and to maintain balance
between benefits & risks of technology.
• The purpose of TA is to study ethical
controversies in societal prism.
• Technology Assessment determines public
perception and formation of visionary attitude.

5.
How should people benefit from achievements of
Nanotechnology and engineering?
At which extent the quality of life will improve
thanks to synthesis of new materials?
Answers to these and related questions are
encouraging , thanks to achievements in
Nanotechnology.

6.
Nanotechnology
Although nanotechnology is a relatively recent development in
scientific research, the development of its central concepts
happened over a longer period of time.
• So, what we know about NT?
• Has a long history
• Has a solid theoretical basis
• Has been looked at seriously for nearly
30 years!

7.
Nanotechnology - shift from visual to tactile perception
NanoT&S got started in the early 1980s with two
major developments: invention of the scanning
tunneling microscope (STM), and the atomic force
microscope was invented after five years.
The AFM uses atomic force to see the atoms.
IBM scientist enabled manipulation even individual
atoms to design and synthesize materials for
desired features.

8.
Nobel Prize Awards
• This image created by IBM IBM - 1986
scientists demonstrates a Binnig & Rohrer
new nano "printing" 1990
technique they believe will Eigler & Schweitzer
lead to breakthroughs in
ultra-tiny chips, ultra tiny
lenses for optics, and
biosensors for healthcare..
The recreation of Robert
Fludd's 17th century
drawing of the Sun – the
alchemists’ symbol for gold
-- was created by precisely
placing 20,000 gold
particles, each about 60
nanometers in diameter.
• Credit: IBM
Published: 07:56 EST, September 11, 2007
http://archive.physorg.com/11/09/2007

9.
• When dealing with constraints of size below 100
nm, the laws of quantum physics supersede those
of traditional physics, resulting in changes of a
substance’s properties.
• For instance, Japanese scientists from Osaka
National Research Institute (Haruta, 1997)
discovered catalytic behavior of nanoscaled gold
particles, which is revealed while the particle
diameter is turned smaller than 3-5 nm. Gold
nanoparticle catalysts can vanish smells created by
bacteria. In practice this invention was tested to
prevent odor. In Japan already in service in rest
rooms.

10.
•Another application for this invention is utilized in fuel cells of
hydrogen batteries. Above described case emerges awareness
of risk - what is the possibility of nanosized gold particles to
become potentially toxic catalysts within the human body.
Nanoparticles of gold for new
catalysts
Credit: Nanotechnology ‘Innovation for tomorrow’s world’
tomorrow’ world’
by Dr. Mathias Schulenburg, 2004

11.
Quantum Mechanical properties at nanoscale
One hundred and fifty years after one of the founders of
chemistry Michael Faraday in 1850s first created gold
nanoparticles and observed that these nanoparticles
absorbed light, researchers in XX century rediscovered
that a mere flash of light can cause the particles to melt.
Absorbed light is efficiently turned into extreme heat, that
is capable of killing cancer cells. The external energy
can be mechanical, radio frequency, laser, optical, near-
infrared light – resultant therapeutic action is the same.

12.
Hammad-Shifferli et al. (2002) have demonstrated that
transmitted radio signals influence DNA strand integrity
by means of attached nanometer gold particles, opening
up the possibility of future to control electronically more
complex biological processes such as enzymatic activity,
protein folding and biomolecular assembly.

13.
Gold Nanoparticles coated with antisense DNA can disrupt protein
production quite effectively by Chad A. Mirkin, Nathaniel L. Rosi, David
A. Giljohann et al - Northwestern University, 2006
Attaching antisense DNA strands to the
surface of gold nanoparticles not only makes
Antisense DNA, a kind of the strands more stable, but more effective in
its protein-suppression role.
molecular mirror image
of ordinary DNA, can be
tailored to disrupt the
production of specific
protein molecules in the
cell. For this reason,
researchers have long
believed that antisense
DNA could be more
effective than
conventional drugs at
fighting cancer and other
diseases with a genetic
basis.

14.
Nanoshells have a core of silica and a metallic outer layer e.g. gold, cupper, iron.
Nanoshells will preferentially concentrate in cancer lesion sites.
Nanoshells are “essentially a nanolens” that captures light and then focuses it
around itself. Shining a near-infrared laser on the tumor site from outside the
body (light can travel through tissue more than 10 cm), the nanoshells absorb the
light and focus it on the tumor. The area around the nanoshells heats up and the
tumor “cooks” until it is ablated. Nanoshells leave no “toxic trail” in the body the
way conventional chemotherapeutic agents do, stated that “long-term studies
have not indicated any toxicity or effect on the immune system.”
Reference: Naomi Halas, Rebekah Drezek and Jennifer West, Rice University
http://nano.cancer.gov/index.asp

15.
• First use of gold salts in rheumatology
• Throughout the history, gold was used to cure
diseases. First, in 1935, gold drugs were reported to
1935
be effective for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
It is thought that gold affects the entire immune
response (phagocytes, leukocytes, T-Cells...) and
reduce its potency and limit its oxidizing nature,
ending the cycle of joint inflammation and erosion.
Effect is explained by the fact that administered gold
compounds accumulate within body once absorbed
into the cell and linked to anti-mitochrondrial activity,
induced cell apoptosis.
• Except of gold compounds, which are classified by the WHO
as an antirheumatic agent included in the basic treatment
scheme, not any developing nanoparticle gold containing
medication is yet FDA approved.

16.
Nanotechnologies - not completely new
Nanoscale gold particles may act absolutely diversely. Usually
characterized by its yellow color, while gold is processed in
nanospheres, gives way to orange, purple, red or greenish tint.
British Museum exhibits Lycurgus Cup, which is ruby gold glass.
Almost no one declines the statement, that "Nano gold doesn’t act
like bulk gold" (Ratner & Ratner 2003). Moreover, gold is mostly
studied chemical element, thus with most predictable behavior.
Dating back to Roman Empire, colloidal gold was thought to have
healing properties. All these properties is of great interest for the
industry and society as it enables new applications and products.
Consequently, more attention is focused on revealing balance
between efficiency and toxicity, finally determining the destination of
drug or cosmetic product.

17.
Nanotechnologies - not completely new
Nanogold already used in medieval times.`

18.
CytImmune - PEGilated gold nanoparticals -
A Novel Vector for Tumor Directed Drug Delivery
In 2000, CytImmune discovered
that pegylated colloidal gold
nanoparticles bind anti-cancer
therapeutics on their surface and
carry these drugs safely through
the blood stream.
Thiolated forms of small molecule
therapeutics, such as TNF, bind
directly to the surface of colloidal
gold nanoparticles.
With tumor targeting resulting in
increased drug levels in the tumor
and reduced drug uptake by healthy
organs, the technology improves
efficacy and reduces toxicity.

19.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
• Gold nanoparticles are also more biocompatible, than other
types of optically active nanoparticles, such as cadmium
containing quantum dots. The process of nano-fabrication,
in particular the making of gold nanodots or quantum dots,
is well known.
• For example, nanoparticles that are 36 nanometers wide,
absorb light over 10,000 times better than conventional
organic dyes, making them potential candidates for optical
imaging applications of small tumors. In the study,
researchers found that the gold nanoparticles have 600%
greater affinity for specific overexpressed surface receptors
of cancer cells, rather, than for noncancerous cells.

21.
Question is:
How do manage producers of cosmetics to sell nano gold based
products, while not any of gold nano-particle enabled anti cancer
drug is yet FDA approved and they are only on half way to prove
safety and efficacy. Usually this process takes up to 15 years.
NB!
While FDA requirement are strict for novel medications,
conversely, regulatory mechanisms for the cosmetics allow earlier
market entry. Unlike medical and healthcare sectors, cosmetic
industry outpaces commercial potential of nanoparticle
containing product. To compare with the rate of released
cosmetics, widely distributed worldwide, situation is quite
unequal.

22.
• A recent report by J. Davies from the
Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on
Emerging Nanotechnologies strongly
criticized the current approach
regulating cosmetics as wholly
inadequate to dealing with the risks
posed by nanotechnologies: “Although
the FDCA [Food, Drug and Cosmetic
Act] has a lot of language devoted to
cosmetics, it is not too much of an
exaggeration to say that cosmetics in
the USA are essentially unregulated.”

23.
‘Green’ Nanotechnology:
Besides health hazard issues, tight ethical control is
sought to distinguish misnomer of the term ‘green’,
while cosmetic firms sell their ‘green nano gold’
containing personal care products for exorbitant prices
mostly online. For comparison, real green
nanotechnology is developed in environmentally
friendly manner.
Dr. Jim Hutchinson’s research group in the University
of Oregon, directed at the cleaner and greener
production of gold nanoparticles, a process that also
reduces the cost of synthesizing these materials from
300,000 to 500 dollars per gram.